At its spring meeting, the ASCE Ohio Council of Local Sections discussed and overwhelming supported sending letters to Ohio Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown as well as Representative Marcy Kaptur stating that ASCE supports their efforts and recent statements to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The GLRI was proposed to be cut from the EPA's budget as part of President Trump's budget proposal. The GRLI was funded for $300/year for 5 years as part of the recently passed WIIN Act of 2016. Both Senators and the Congresswoman have cited the need for this program to improve water quality for Lake Erie in the wake of the City of Toledo water issues in 2014, as well as keeping the Great Lakes free of invasive species such as the Asian Carp as hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on the Great Lakes and pour billions of dollars in the economy.

ASCE’s Ohio Council sent a letter of support to State Representative John Rogers (D- Mentor-on-the-Lake) for his sponsorship of HB 492 also known as “Restore Ohio”. This bill will use $1 billion of the State’s rainy-day fund to accelerate and increase Ohio’s ability to maintain, restore, and expand infrastructure throughout the state. It is expected that this investment will lead to improved industrial competitiveness, reduce costs for drivers and enhance services for all Ohio residents that are served by water, sewer, drainage, power, and other utility systems. The letter was co-signed by President of the Ohio Council, Keith Aschemeier, P.E., and Federal Advocacy Captain, Jim Pajk, P.E. Additionally, ASCE Member Brooks Vogel, P.E. participated in a press conference to help frame the importance of infrastructure investment in the context of grades given in both the National and Ohio Report Cards.

The Ohio Council of ASCE is soliciting nominations for the 2016 Ohio Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. Nominations must be received by the Ohio OCEA Committee Chair no later than 5:00 PM, Monday, March 7, 2016. If you are unable to meet this deadline, please contact Al Esser at 440-256-6500 or email him at esser@sme-usa.com.

Selection criteria for the Ohio OCEA Award parallels national ASCE's criteria except that nominated projects must be located within Ohio's borders. Projects nominated for but not winning the national ASCE OCEA competition are eligible. Ohio Council’s OCEA winner will be selected by a committee of judges representing each Ohio Section.

Jim Pajk was a guest columnist for The website Cleveland.com (affiliated with The Plain Dealer newspaper).

James Pajk, federal advocacy captain for the American Society of Civil Engineers, says the Highway User Trust Fund is currently running a deficit, and Congress must increase the tax -- now 18.4 cents a gallon -- that funds it. The money will help restore aging roads and bridges. Bad roads cost drivers $413 a year in added operational costs in Ohio, where Pajk is from. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)